Sharpening a "cleaver knife" = really thin at the tip and "cleaver thick" near the heel.

A couple of the old dirty carbons I've bought have an interesting grind: really thin at the tip and "cleaver thick" near the heel. It's pretty clear to me after working on one that trying to get it thin at the heel is both hopeless and probably stupid. My conjecture is that these knives were designed to be a combination of cleaver and knife. My question is what it the best way to sharpen these, having an angle that say starts at 15 degrees and transitions to 20 degrees at the heel? If so what's the best way to get this kind of transitional angles across the whole knife...

I'm not a cleaver guy but since I've toyed with the same idea I'll chime in. Thinness at the tip already helps your cutting, I'd have that at 20deg. Behind that I'd be closer to 30. Sharpen the back end then do the tip. Then watch some youtube videos, there are quite a few of Chinese cooks breaking down raw and cooked chickens with a cleaver, slicing through flesh and bone, both alternately and in the same stroke. They likely have their cleavers sharpened in similar fashion.


Rick

No cleaner guy either here. I would add a single-sided extra bevel from heel to half-way the blade, as seen with some honesukis. I used to sharpen my Sabatiers like that to take most advantage of the flat area for rough tasks. It allows you to keep the front area really thin without compromising overall edge stability.